Penal Legion and Snow Trooper Guardsman Conversions

Well the folks at Pig Iron were nice enough to send us some of their models to check out and Mike asked me to pick some parts out and build something, I chose a body with a big coat, a big back pack, and a gas masked bald head.

First is this Penal Legion Guardsman for my Ardwick 23rd.

I used a Pig Iron Kolony Rebel gas mask head with Games Workshop Catachan torso and legs and Cadian arms.

I wanted him to look different from the rest of the Ardwick 23rd, but still have a gas mask. At first I wanted a very basic looking guy with no armor, thinking that the Empire wouldn't waste any good equipment on these troops, but after checking the stats they do have the same flack armor that the regular troops have, so I decided to give them the look of being equipped with older gear that was not uniform with the regulars of the 23rd.

So no helmet, and an old style flack vest over an orange prisoner's jumpsuit. I don't like the big muscle arms from the Catachans so I went with standard Cadian arms, also no extra gear.

I think the running pose makes him seem more desparate.

I went a bit heavy with the washes, I wanted him to look dirty, I also tried to make the flack vest look old, dirty and faded.

Here is a pic with one of the regular Ardwick 23rd trying to keep up.

I think he fits in pretty good with the rest of the lads, and still is different enough from the line troops.

My next Pig Iron model conversion, uses a Feral Pack body and Games Workshop head.

This conversion is very similar to what Mike did in his earlier post with a similar Pig Iron figure, but I was going for a different look.

I like to think of this model as a long range recon trooper geared up for cold weather and snow.

I used the Pig Iron body and back pack with a Fantasy Wood elf hooded and masked head, and I added the barrel from a Guard lasrifle.

He already had a bunch of pouches and I added a big back pack, with all the gear, he looks like he is prepared for a long campaign and plans to be out in the field for a while.

I used a blue wash on the white to give the model a cold feeling.

I had a tough time with the white paint, and If I were to do it again, I think I would add a couple Imperial Guard canteens, to make it look a bit more Guardish.

Great news for all you readers! Pig Iron was so kind to send us two squads of their models to give away for FREE. That is wonderful news for those of you who like to be creative with the hobby. At the end of the week we will do another GIVEAWAY, this time TWO of our lucky blog subscribers will be getting some FREE merchandise from Pig Iron. Be sure to keep watching our blog and in the meantime support all the wonderfully creative, little and ambitious companies around! Be inspired!

John and Mike